Formulating a Capabilities-Driven Strategy (CDR) is easy, but the execution is difficult, especially in turbulent times. This is not the time to find a cave and hibernate until the economic storm passes. It is unlikely that the storm will pass anytime soon. Capabilities-Driven Strategy is the only way to remain equipped for perpetually stormy weather. Companies […]
About Joseph Robinson
Joseph Robinson is the Vice President of Strategy at Flevy. Flevy is the marketplace for best practices in business management. Learn how the Fortune 100 and global consulting firms do it. Improve the growth and efficiency of your organization by leveraging Flevy's library of best practice methodologies and templates. The documents at Flevy (https://flevy.com) are of the same caliber as those produced by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Accenture. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with 20+ years of experience. Flevy covers 200+ management topics, ranging from Digital Transformation to Growth Strategy to Lean Management. You can peruse a full list of management topics available on Flevy here. Prior to Flevy, Joseph worked as an Associate at BCG and holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. You can connect with Joseph on LinkedIn here.Author Archive | Joseph Robinson
When the Going Gets Rough, Unlearn to Learn the 5 Leadership Practices of Capabilities-Driven Strategy (CDR)
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. The more we play golf, the more we realize that there is a negative correlation between how hard we swung and how far we hit the ball. […]
Sharpening Your Edge to Growth: The 10 Principles of Culture
A company’s cultural situation is challenging, multidimensional, and difficult to deal with. It constitutes a powerful set of emotional resources. To a degree, culture can be compared to natural forces such as winds and tides. These elements are there in the background, sometimes unnoticed, sometimes obvious. Endowed with immense power, they can waylay plans and […]
Strategy and Finance Alignment: The Key to Optimizing Target Operating Model
Industries today are in a state of flux driven by volatile market forces. Although every company devises a strategy for creating long-term differentiation for goods and services, still various dynamics are emerging. Across industries, market changes are affecting how Finance needs to operate. Finance must anticipate the implication of these various dynamics and forces evolving […]
Taking the Road Less Traveled: Building Leadership Credibility
Leadership is the relationship between people who aspire to lead and those who choose whether or not to follow. Leadership hinges on the leader’s credibility which is difficult to build and easy to lose. CEOs of BP, Wells Fargo and Volkswagen have learned that tough lesson through high-profile scandals that can swiftly damage their reputations. […]
When FAST Beats SMART: The Strategic Method to Goal Setting
Goal Setting used to be done in a conventional way. Managers hold one-on-one meetings with their subordinates to set goals. Performances are reviewed against objectives and these are linked to promotion and bonus decisions. The same managers aspire their goals to be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. But this conventional wisdom of […]
Conquering Cultural Differences through the 6 Dimensions of National Cultures
Cultural differences can be a barrier to communication. This could affect our organization’s ability to build connections and motivate people. While we may be excited with the opportunities that global connectedness has brought forth, yet we are cautious of making cross-cultural faux pas. When faced with cultural differences, we need to understand the cultural dimensions […]
The 7 Fundamentals of Innovation: Your Guidepost to Doing Innovation Better than the Rest
Managing innovation is an important process only a few organization can master very well. It is because the innovation process is not fully understood or implemented and the innovation culture is still immature. While Innovation Management is recognized to bring in results, excellence has not been achieved in terms of managing innovation. Highly successful companies […]
Redefining the Imperative in Mergers and Acquisitions – The Target Operating Model
When organizations go into Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), its future operating state changes. A fundamental question will arise as to what the Target Operating Model (TOM) of the resultant organization will look like. What is TOM? The Target Operating Model (TOM) represents a clearly defined target structure in which the relevant unit should operate in […]
Need to Have High-Performing Teams? Master the Stages of Team Development
Forming a team takes time. Companies cannot expect a new team to perform well when it first comes together. Members often go through stages as they change from being a collection of strangers to a united group with common goals. “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. – Henry […]
Learning the SKS Model and IL/IW/WI Model to Giving Effective Feedback
According to Charles Coonradt, a Management Consultant, “The failure to give appropriate and timely feedback is the most extreme cruelty that we can inflict on any human being.” The feedback project can be stressful. Many people feel fear to ask about their performance. Yet, there are strategies leaders can take on to defuse the stress. […]
The Power of Matrix Management 2.0 – Gaining Market Leadership
Operating a Matrix Organization can be a challenging task. Complex geographical structures, cultural barriers, functional divides, conflicting barriers, and management silos abound. Matrices are often necessary though this may create uncomfortable ambiguity for employees. Most employees in Matrix Organizations are found to be not terribly engaged with their jobs. Engagement is defined as involvement in and […]
